Declaration of the Provincial Congress of South Carolina to the Governour (June 20, 1775)
Editor’s Note: Breaking up with Britain was hard to do, as this somewhat ambivalent June 20, 1775 declaration attests (and as does Thomas Jefferson’s initial draft of ‘the’ Declaration of Independence). On the one hand, Charleston’s provincial Congress makes clear that it desires “nothing more ardently than a speedy reconciliation with our Mother Country upon constitutional […]
Declaration of Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Convention, 1833.
Editor’s Note: The prominent abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison asserts in this declaration, the composition of which he spearheaded, that slavery is a moral evil and that “every American citizen, who detains a human being in involuntary bondage as his property, is, according to Scripture, (Ex. xxi. 16,) a man-stealer”. Garrison’s, whose deeds matched his rhetoric, co-founded the […]
‘Declarations of our humble opinion respecting the most essential rights and liberties of the colonists’ (Declaration of Rights of Stamp Act Congress) — Declaration of Rights and Grievances, October 19, 1765
Editor’s Note: These resolutions are described by the First Continental Congress as tantamount to “declarations of our humble opinion, respecting the most essential rights and liberties Of the colonists, and of the grievances under which they labour, by reason of several late Acts of Parliament.” The aim is “to procure the repeal of the Act […]
Declaration of the National Anti-Slavery Convention (1833)
Editor’s Note: Written by the abolitionist, journalist and social former William Lloyd Garrison, this declaration of sentiments — published on December 14, 1833 in The Liberator — heralded the birth of the American Anti-Slavery Society, incorporating key passages of our Declaration of July 4, 1776 to advance its arguments. Declaration of the National Anti-Slavery Convention The Convention, assembled […]
The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions — 1848, Seneca Falls Conference, Women’s Rights
Editor’s Note: With the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776 as its model, the driving forces behind this declaration – which demands the recognition of women as rights-bearing citizens — was Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, anti-slavery and women’s rights activists. The declaration was issued at a convention for women’s rights held in Seneca Falls, […]
